Don't Have to Come
by Butterfly Needle
Summary: Because there's nothing like celebrating the birth of a nation with some minor lawbreaking. Varon sets off fireworks, Rafael watches, and everything is normal for an hour or two. Fourth of July holiday fic.


**Disclaimer: **Yu-Gi-Oh! isn't mine. I'm making no profit from this story. I just like to write.**  
Author's Note: **I've been meaning to write this for years now, and every year it never happens. I guess it didn't really happen on time this year, either, but that's what happens when the plotbunnies sleep until halfway through the fireworks. =D  
Apparently present tense and headcanon should be warned for, so -- consider yourself warned.

***

It doesn't really surprise anyone when Varon vanishes for half the day and returns with, not occupied Orichalcos Barrier cards, but a bag full of fireworks. Eyebrows are raised and questions are asked, but only one of the latter turns out to be important.

"You aren't planning on setting those off, are you?" Amelda asks, in a tone of forced indifference that, by itself, is fairly convincing. When it's coupled with nervous glances and a few quick steps back, it gives Varon plenty to comment on.

"'Course I'm setting them off, it's the Fourth of July. Why, are you worried?" Varon's cocky grin and tone of voice make it very clear what he thinks of anyone who's afraid of a few innocent fireworks, with no consideration for how growing up in a war zone might color someone's opinion regarding explosives of any kind. He takes a step forward and gestures with the bag, laughing at Amelda's reaction.

"What's so special about July fourth?"

That catches Varon off guard for a moment, and it takes him a moment or two to find an answer. "It's a holiday," he finally says. "Celebrating America's independence from England. People set off fireworks." He shrugs, not caring enough to give a more detailed answer than that. "I'm going up to the roof once it gets dark to set them off. You don't have to come."

***

Amelda doesn't come. He finds Dartz and offers to make himself useful in the temple, because he doesn't want to spend the evening in a constant state of almost-panic; it's not so easy to shake off the instincts that kept him alive for years. It's only a bonus that he really doesn't have to make himself useful at all. Dartz has nothing for him to do, and so he stands and listens while the man prays in a language both incomprehensible and fascinating.

It ends up being only Varon and Rafael on the roof, and Rafael isn't as interested in the fireworks as he is in making sure that Varon is reasonably careful with them. Maybe it's only because Rafael is there, but Varon is surprisingly careful, lighting everything as quickly as he can and hurrying to a safe distance to watch.

"This isn't legal, is it?" Rafael asks, voice raised over the shrieking whistle this one is letting off. Varon doesn't answer, seemingly transfixed by the brightly-colored sparks, and only when they die out does he respond.

"Nope. Do you really care?"

Rafael just shrugs. He can't say that he doesn't care at all, but Varon could certainly be doing worse things than celebrating on a holiday.

Professional fireworks start to go off as well, much louder and more impressive than anything Varon bought, and Varon starts paying more attention to them than to his own. Up on the roof like this it's hard not to catch them, and it seems like there's something exploding into sparks in every direction. The sky is cloudless, but the fireworks light up the inevitable smoke in dull colors.

After a while Varon stops setting off fireworks of his own, and just sits down on the roof to watch the ones lighting up the sky. He tosses Rafael the lighter, but Rafael only pockets it for safekeeping and comes to stand next to him.

"You look like you would have been happier going to see those, instead of buying your own," he comments during a sudden pause in the action.

Varon shakes his head. "This is good. It's just been a while, you know? Haven't seen fireworks like this since I was little." He pauses as another few fireworks went off, then continues unprompted. "At the orphanage... they didn't always manage to get us all out to watch, but they tried. I guess I appreciate that more now than I did back then."

When Rafael had been that young he hadn't known what it was like to want to do something and not be able to. He doesn't have anything to contribute now, but Varon doesn't seem to mind the silence.

"I don't really care about the holiday," Varon says suddenly, looking away from the sky to glance up at Rafael. "Not the meaning behind it, anyway. I don't know if anyone really does. It's just an excuse to set off fireworks."

"I'm sure some people are interested in the history of their country."

Varon suddenly looks awkward, but after a minute he shrugs it off and gets to his feet. "I'd better do the rest of these before it gets too late," he mumbles as he picks one at random from the bag. He heads to a spot several yards away that's already littered with spent fireworks. It isn't until he's there that he remembers that Rafael has the lighter, and he has to wait for Rafael to dig it out of his pocket and throw it to him.

He's unusually quiet for the rest of the evening, but not too upset to stuff the garbage back in the bag to throw away inside when the sparks from the last firework have finally died out.

"Hey, Rafael?" he says suddenly as he's heading back inside. "Thanks for the company. I know it's not your holiday to celebrate, and... I appreciate it. Really." But before Rafael can answer Varon speeds up, not quite comfortable with giving thanks and not quite sure that he wants to hear his response.

That he bothered to say anything at all surprises Rafael much more than the running off, and he can't bring himself to be annoyed. None of DOMA's swordsmen are without their share of troubles. It's enough for him that he managed to lighten the load on Varon's shoulders for at least a little while.


End file.
